THIS WEEKEND
Studio doctors performed a quadruple bypass on the box office as new blood
was finally pumped into the marketplace after weeks of the same holiday
films dominating the scene. Four movies opened or expanded nationwide and
entered the top ten shaking up the status quo. Ticket dollars were spread
around as nine films managed a weekend gross of at least $5M over the Friday-to-Sunday
portion of the long weekend. Meanwhile, the December hits Stuart
Little and The
Green Mile broke through the $100M mark
in domestic sales. Final
figures were released for the four-day Friday-to-Monday Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. holiday weekend.

It was a good day,
and a good weekend, for Ice Cube who gave the box office a lethal injection
of comedy with Next Friday
which opened triumphantly at number one in North America with $16.9M over
the four-day period and $14.5M over the Friday-to-Sunday part. The performance
is especially impressive since the New Line sequel to the 1995 cult hit
Friday
opened in just 1,103 theaters giving it a scorching $15,338 average per
site. Since its Wednesday launch, Next
Friday has grossed a potent $21.5M in
just six days. The low-budget film was able to score the fifth best January
opening ever, based on the three-day portion.

Many ingredients contributed
to Next Friday's
strong top spot debut. Anchoring the success was Ice Cube, a well-respected
rap music pioneer who has ventured into acting, directing, writing, and
producing films. His loyal following turned out in droves for the sequel
to Friday
which grossed $27.4M five years ago, became a hugely popular home video,
and launched the career of comedian Chris Tucker. Cube also supported the
film by trekking across the country doing press any chance he could. New
Line picked a good weekend to premiere since the box office had been dominated
by family fare and adult dramas for weeks allowing for a comedy aimed at
young urban males to score. Produced for about $9.5M, Next
Friday is sure to become a moneymaking
vehicle for the distributor. Box office success is nothing new to Ice Cube.
His films Three Kings,
Anaconda,
Friday,
and Higher Learning
all opened at number one or number two and his feature debut in Boyz
N The Hood shocked the industry when it
grossed $56M making it one of the most profitable pictures of 1991.

Slipping a spot from
number one was the hit family film Stuart
Little which rounded up an impressive
$12.5M allowing it to hit the $100M barrier on Saturday, its 30th day of
release. Sony's new potential franchise continues to hold on well each
week and has put its total at $109.6M.

Denzel Washington brought
his Golden Globe-nominated performance in The
Hurricane to a national audience over
the weekend and connected with $10.5M over the Friday-to-Monday period.
Expanding into 1,454 theaters, the Universal release averaged a solid $7,230
per ring and raised its cume to $14.6M. The $38M tale of a boxer wrongly
imprisoned for murder hopes that a Globe win and an Oscar nomination in
the weeks ahead will keep the public interested in seeing the film.

In its first weekend
of wide release, Girl, Interrupted,
starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, took in $9.3M to land in fourth
place. Admitted into 1,902 asylums, the $24M Sony release averaged a moderate
$4,900 per theater and now stands at $10.1M including its exclusive run
in New York and Los Angeles. However, its slim 18% Friday-to-Saturday build
could indicate a rocky journey ahead.

The Green Mile gave
Tom Hanks the tenth $100M+ domestic blockbuster of his career on Sunday
as it grossed $8.8M over the holiday weekend. Down only 9%, the Warner
Bros. hit has been one of the more durable titles around and has reached
$102.8M to date. The Green Mile is
also the record nineteenth motion picture released in 1999 to cross the
century mark.

Continuing its leggy
run, Galaxy Quest
took in $8.5M in its fourth weekend. The DreamWorks sci-fi comedy has zoomed
to a sturdy $48.8M to date. Collecting $6.8M, The
Talented Mr. Ripley fell 27% and pushed
its cume to $63.5M.

Supernova witnessed
an opening that was far from explosive as the sci-fi thriller grossed $6.7M
in its debut weekend. The $65M MGM/UA entry, which lost its original director
right before shooting began, landed in 2,280 theaters and averaged a weak
$2,953 per venue. Starring James Spader and Angela Bassett, Supernova
follows a medical spaceship which picks up a patient who brings mysterious
and evil elements on board.

Toy Story 2
grossed $6.6M over the Friday-to-Monday period and watched its staggering
cume hit $227.6M putting it within striking distance of the top 20 all-time
domestic blockbusters. Any Given Sunday
tackled $5.5M in ticket sales and raised its total to $66.9M.

A quartet of films
dropped out of the top ten due to the arrival of the new releases. Friday-to-Monday
figures had New Line's Magnolia
suffering a 32% fall bringing in $3.9M in its second weekend of national
release with a cume of $12.2M.

Buena Vista's Bicentennial
Man fell 20% to $4.3M bringing its tally
to a moderate $52.4M. The $90M family film starring Robin Williams looks
to finish its domestic run with about $60-65M. However, stablemate Deuce
Bigalow has turned into a profitable pic
with another $3.5M this weekend pushing its rosy cume to $59M. The $18M
Rob Schneider film took advantage of the relative lack of comedies this
winter and aims to turn its last trick with around $65-70M.

Snow Falling on
Cedars, starring Ethan Hawke, slid 21%
to $3.1M over the weekend. With $8.4M in the bank, the Universal release
may end its run with $15-20M unless some major awards come its way.

Disney's IMAX film
Fantasia 2000
conjured up $3.1M over the weekend. Now in its third weekend of global
release, the large-screen toon has collected a solid $11.1M domestically
from 54 theaters and about $14M worldwide from 75 IMAX cinemas, according
to a studio spokeman. While Disney originally planned an exclusive four-month
release for Fantasia 2000,
the studio is considering lengthening its run due to its success.

Compared to Friday-to-Sunday
projections, Next Friday
surged ahead of my $10M Friday-to-Sunday forecast while The
Hurricane came in below my $12M prediction.
Girl, Interrupted
and Supernova
both opened near my $7M projection for each.

Take this week's NEW
Reader Survey on the box office prospects
for Scream 3.
In last week's survey, readers were asked which of four actresses would
they most like to see replace Jodie Foster in Hannibal,
the sequel to The Silence of the Lambs.
Of 2,835 responses, 50% chose Gillian Anderson, 38% picked Ashley Judd,
7% selected Carrie Anne Moss, and 6% said Sandra Bullock.

Be sure to read the
Weekly Rewind column which reports on the top
January openings from the last decade. This Wednesday's new column will
look at the current opening weekend records for each month of the year.
For a review of The Hurricane visit
The Chief Report.

The top ten films over
the four-day weekend grossed $92.3M which was even with last year when
Varsity Blues opened
at the top with $17.5M over the long weekend, and up just 1% from 1998's
holiday frame when Titanic ruled
with $30M.

Be sure to check back
on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next
weekend when Down to You
and Play it to the Bone
open.

This column is updated three times each week
: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary),
Sunday (post-weekend analysis with
estimates), and Monday night (actuals).
Source : EDI, Exhibitor Relations. Opinions expressed in this column are
those solely of the author.